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FILE RECOVERY
Data Recovery: Beginners
Tips by Jeff Walters
Right now you probably in a lot of mental pain, and all you're
concerned about is recovering your data as quickly as possible - so
we'll refrain from comments on the wisdom of regular back ups. The
time for preventative measures has gone - the issue at hand is data
recovery.
First - a simple tip could save you a lot of money. Take out your
rolodex and get hold of your tech-savvy friends. If you're in luck,
they'll offer to help, and if you're really lucky, they might even
have some disk recovery software.
If you're out of luck, then get out your wallet or purse out now …
because this is going to cost you. Also, be prepared for a lot of
time being wasted - data recovery can take a long time.
The first thing to establish is what exactly is wrong with your
hard disk:
Either your computer won't boot up, or Your computer boots up OK but
you can't see one of your other drives.
Let's see if we can eliminate the worst scenario. Listen closely to
your hard drive - is it making any sort of weird noise, such as
scratching, scraping, ticking etc?
If so, then your drive is physically damaged and the only hope
that you have is to take it to a data recovery service where experts
might be able to get your data off for you. These services are
expensive and time consuming - so you need to make a judgment call
as to the value of data on the disk.
If it's only your saved game data or downloaded music files you
would like back, you're probably better off kicking yourself for not
backing up, and accepting the data loss. If, on the other hand, it's
a book or other type of information product that you've been working
on for years, then send it to a data recovery service for an
evaluation and quote - it usually costs nothing.
If your hard disk sounds OK, then you stand a decent chance of
recovering data yourself.
First you'll need to download some software to help you out.
Unfortunately, the better software utilities are not free, but the
good news is that many allow you to try them out to see they can
access the data. There are some freeware versions available but
generally speaking these are not easy to use - no user interface /
little documentation, or they are not very effective.
There's a list of recommended software on our site 'Data Recovery
Emergency Room' - compare the different options then download a few
of the trial versions.
Your next steps will be based on how your hard drive/s were
setup:
If you only have a single hard drive that has not been
partitioned or split into different "logical" drives,
you'll probably need to attach the hard drive to another computer
that has enough space to store all your data. This can be quite
technical so if you don't have the skills please get a computer
savvy friend to help out.
Another option is to purchase an external USB hard drive case. You
can then simply slot the hard drive into the case and plug it into
another PC using a USB port.
If you have a multiple drive setup and your computer boots up fine,
then it will merely be a case of getting the downloaded software to
read the files and then copy them to another drive - provided you
have a drive with enough space on it. If not, you'll need to attach
the hard drive to another machine with enough spare capacity.
The scenario where you have a multiple drive setup, where the
problem drive is the one that contains your operating system files
is more tricky.
Look for a data recovery software package that has a boot disk
option available. What this means is that when you start your
computer with the boot disk in it, it will automatically run the
data recovery program without trying to start windows. You should be
able to see your files and then copy them across to another drive.
Hopefully these tips will enable you to get all your important files
back.
Once you've had some time to recover, please take a look at the
various articles on our website - our goal is to make it one of the
best resources on data recovery.
About the Author
For the past 20 years, Jeff Walters' interest has been in making
the most effective use of a business's information assets. He has
lead several data-to-information projects : ABC Costing, analytical
CRM, data warehouse development. For more info, visit: Data
Recovery CRM
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